Well, the summer is fast drawing near to a close, and oh, what a summer it has been.

I had a brand new experience this summer; working in a completely different department than before, but it was definitely a good one.

I was looking for photos to punctuate this entry with, but realized I'd actually taken way more pictures than I'd originally thought. Therefore, have a view of my summer, as seen through photos (and the occasional video).

This is me.

This was my job this summer. This entailed working with two groups of 39 cadets (each intake there for three weeks), all aged 13-14, to help them either build a good musical foundation or to help build on what they already had learned prior to the course. I was the director of the two bands, and thus got final musical say as to what our selections were, and I think I did well in that aspect (more to follow).

Some of you will remember that I was here in the spring for the SETC course, and things have...changed since then, to say the least.March

August

That's not the least of what's changed, though, as this summer marked the third department I've worked in at Quadra over my eight years of going there.

It was a good change, though - I worked with some great people. Meet Calvin, my DivO/co-Director for Basic.

But Calvin wasn't the only awesome person there by any stretch - I worked with a whole department of really cool people. (missing a couple of Advanced's SCdts from here, but it's the best I could do.)

My cadets were pretty cool, too.Intake 1

Intake 2

We may look serious, but trust me, we knew how to have fun.Intake 1

Intake 2

The job was a lot of work; not just for me, but for all of us. We had the most cadets over the summer - just edging out the three intakes of General Training cadets (66-68 over the summer as opposed to our 78), which meant we had a lot of overtime work at times to make sure everything was prepared.

Sometimes it was stressful. Sometimes I wanted to just skip the diplomacy and write their course reports like this:

Sometimes, I had to be reminded that I had to keep a good attitude around them.

Sometimes, we stressed others out. (We were told off for having our cadets go and drop their instruments off at the band hall before going for food, as apparently eating is more important. Therefore, the Music Dept retaliated by having all three bands, with 90ish cadets, go directly to eat with their instruments the next day. Completely cluttered up the coat room, and engulfed a whole other wall with their instrument cases. Needless to say, we weren't usually bothered about it again.)

Other times, it was great. The first Intake got Top Division for block/uniform/drill marks, and the second Intake was very close; just missing out by 1.5 points.

The cadets worked hard, too, and we made sure to let them have Music Appreciation Time sometimes.

It was also a good summer for me, personally. I found a photo of mine that I've literally been waiting eight years to see; my own TG1/Basic photo (I'm front row, far right).

I finally got my military ID, which makes me look a little like a serial killer (but it's okay, because the card says I'm not).

I was awarded my three year mug, for serving three years as adult staff at HMCS Quadra.

I got to see good friends like crazy_square again, which is always cool.

I got cool presents for Quadra Christmas (Christmas in July - it's pretty big at Quadra), too - like the HellPuzzle and my very own DIY Sock Zombie.

I also got a present from one of my cadets - she worked on making me my very own Scalemate for the entire three weeks she was there for course, which is straight up the coolest thing I've ever gotten. It was a nice reminder as to why I (and other CIC officers) do what we do.

I got to bear witness to gorgeous sights like this on a regular basis:

And cool sights like this - we actually had the Naden Band come perform for us!

We performed in several concerts and events over the course of the summer, and I couldn't have been prouder of all that my cadets achieved, whether it was musically or just getting past a personal fear/conflict.Intake 1

Intake 2

Case in point: (Second intake only, unfortunately - I still regret not getting any recordings of the First)

Simon and Garfunkel's The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy), as conducted by Calvin.

Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen's Good Time, as conducted by one of my SCdts.

Frozen's Let It Go, as conducted by myself.

So after all that, would I do it again? Absolutely. It's always worth it to see the looks on their faces when they realize all they've accomplished, and how far they've come, and to realize that you are responsible for helping them to get to that point.